title: A comprehensive description of functioning and disability in children with velopharyngeal insufficiency.
abstract: Children with velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) experience functional impairments in a variety of areas that extend beyond the primary physical impairment associated with this disorder. At present, the physical deficits associated with VPI have been studied extensively; however, a comprehensive description of social and communicative participation in this population is needed. Therefore, a biopsychosocial framework such as the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY), may offer an enhanced understanding of the daily experiences of children with VPI. Specifically, the ICF-CY framework is intended to model complex nonlinear systems, and as such, to describe functioning as the interaction of multiple components from which a limitation in communicative participation may emerge. This paper describes how the ICF-CY framework can be utilized to comprehensively describe functioning and disability in children with VPI by describing the interaction of components of this framework.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  As a result of this activity, the reader will be able to: (1) discuss the utility of the ICF-CY in describing the multi-dimensional nature of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI); (2) describe interrelationships between functioning and disability in children with VPI; and (3) identify how limitations in communicative participation may emerge from the interaction of components of the ICF-CY in children with VPI.
authors.affiliation: University of Western Ontario, Doctoral Program in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Elborn College, London, Ontario, Canada N6G 1H1. Electronic address: adzioba@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dzioba
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Skarakis-Doyle
authors.forename: Philip C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: Wenonah
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Allyson D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Dykstra
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D011584:Psychology; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D014681:Velopharyngeal Insufficiency / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology
keywords: CLP; Cleft lip and/or palate; ICF-CY; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth; VPI; Velopharyngeal insufficiency; cleft lip and/or palate; velopharyngeal insufficiency